basic/ beginners mill book?

[wooleybooger]

can anyone suggest a good basic milling book covering speeds,feeds and the correct end mill-2,3,4 flute,finish or roughing and direction of cuts? a friend has a 1hp,1ph chinese mill/drill with belt change spindle speeds. he owns a welding shop and occasionally builds up a machine shaft,turns down the OD on his lathe but when he tries to cut a keyway invariably breaks a mill. i think the speed/feed is wrong for the mill and or the material being used.the machine tool suppliers dont give a very good description of the $40 books they offer. thanks,mike

[Your Old Dog]

I would suggest the first book on your bench be the Machinist Handbook. You also need to browse through it several times to become familiar with what is in there and where it is. I had one even before I got my lathe and mill because I needed help in choosing steel and heat treat process. If you're under 40, by the small one with the tiny type. If you are older you will probably appreciate the larger print one.

BTW, they don't change much over the years so a 2 or 3 years old version off ebay will serve you just fine unless you are doing state of the art machining.

Here's one on ebay. I like the older versions because you can sometimes find information on older machines which are what I have.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Machinerys-Handb...item35a543d8c2

[Circlip]

Think you could be right with the speed/feed thoughts W/B, sounds like he's trying to do a twenty dollar job in a five doller timespot. For key slots, 2flute cutters are NORMALLY used (Slot Drills) and the book will give speed recommendations for a given diameter of cutter.

When cutting, FEEL comes into play, you c an feel when it's cutting or teararsing.

Regards Ian.

[Ken_Shea]

Good basic information with helpful information.
http://opensourcemachine.org/wp-cont...-od1644-ww.pdf

Other machining documents
http://opensourcemachine.org/us-army-courses

[reggie_obe]

Machine Tools and Machining Practices or Machine Tool Practices can usually be found on Ebay

[wooleybooger]

thanks for the info! sounds like we need more practice. Ive got the southbend and colvin lathe books,subscribe to HSM and just recently got the #22 machinerys handbook. kind of intimidating when the first 2 pages you see are numerical charts. will have give it a closer look. i think our biggest problem is spindle speeds.Hes a short guy and has to stand on a milk crate to change belts,so where it is is what he uses. hard-headed and wont listen either. i made a t-slot nut to attach a 4-way turret post to a rockwell 14" this weekend using a facemill and a 4 flute 1/2" end mill. my finished dims. are only a coupla thou less than my desired dims.,i did change the belts 2-3 times. Im a happy boy. the table nuts and screws are in great shape so it has a very good "feel" in the cranks. the micrometer dials are probably best ignored. thanks,mike

[lazlo]

IMHO, Machinery's Handbook is not the place for a beginner to learn how to run a milling machine.

The best intro milling book I've seen is the British Workshop Practice Series: Milling, A Complete Course (by Harold Hall):

http://www.amazon.com/Milling-Comple.../dp/1854862324

It's a lot cheaper to buy it directly from one of the UK booksellers:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...4/ref=dp_olp_1